OUR HISTORY

Straus News is a private family-owned company that traces its roots to 1943 when Nathan Straus, formerly a New York State Senator and administrator of the U.S. Housing Authority in the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration, purchased WMCA Radio (570 AM). Under his stewardship, WMCA became well known for its editorializing and public service campaigns.
R. Peter Straus, his son, took the helm of the radio station in 1959 at the age of 35. During the more than 25 years R. Peter Straus and his wife, Ellen Sulzberger Straus, ran WMCA, it "pioneered public service radio in New York," according to the New York Times. WMCA was the first station to call for Richard Nixon's resignation, the first station to ban cigarette advertising, and the first to accept ads from abortion rights advocates and makers of contraceptives.

In late 1950s and 1960s WMCA, known as the Good Guys, played rock n roll and was the #1 rated station in New York. The stations signature yellow smiley face became a pop icon.

Ellen Straus founded Call For Action in 1963, a telephone referral service that put the power of the media to work for people who had problems with government agencies, corporations and landlords. After investigation, if Call For Action couldn't get the problem resolved, the radio station would air a documentary or editorial highlighting the difficulty. Within ten years Call For Action was operating in fifty cities.

In 1964 R. Peter Straus ran Robert Kennedys successful campaign for U.S. Senate. During the Lyndon Johnson administration Mr. Straus served as assistant administrator for Africa for the Agency for International Development. Under President Jimmy Carter he served as director of the Voice of America.

In 1986 the radio station was sold and the family acquired local newspapers outside Manhattan, in the Hudson Valley region. Since then, Jeanne Straus, now the company's president, has run them. She grew the publications to nine local publications and websites in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

In 2011, the company started Dirt, a magazine covering the local "green scene." In 2013, she oversaw the acquisition of Manhattan's leading weekly newspapers including Our Town, The West Side Spirit, Our Town Downtown, The Chelsea Clinton News and The Westsider. In 2015 the Chelsea News was launched as was the Eastsider and Downtowner.

Jeanne Straus is the daughter of R. Peter Straus and Ellen Sulzberger Straus. Following in the long and illustrious tradition of her family, Ms. Straus is an activist in community service and a leader in the communications industry. She began her career working at The White House News Summary as an editorial assistant and then worked for the Associated Press. She joined the family business in 1980, working in news operations and eventually as Program Director of WMCA. Since assuming the leadership of the news company, her other roles have included serving on the board and as president of the New York Press Association; serving on the executive committee and as president of the New York Press Association Foundation; as founder and president of the Community Reporting Alliance; and as founder and vice president of New York Cares, the largest volunteer organization in New York City.

The family tradition at the company continues to a fourth generation. Becca Tucker, a great-granddaughter of Nathan Straus and niece of Jeanne Straus is the editor of Dirt Magazine. Before joining the company Ms. Tucker worked as a reporter for The New York Sun and Manhattan Media, and as the managing editor of the magazine New York Family. Ms. Tucker has won numerous awards for her writing and reporting for Straus News, including the prestigious National Education Writers Association Award in 2010.

Straus News publishes 17 local weekly newspapers and associated websites in contiguous towns in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The circulation area covers Manhattan and Orange County in New York, Sussex and Passaic Counties in New Jersey and Pike County in Pennsylvania. Straus News also publishes Dirt, a magazine covering the local green scene.
Straus News' publications are Our Town - Eastsider, The West Side Spirit - Westsider, Chelsea News - Chelsea Clinton News & Our Town - Downtowner in Manhattan; The Warwick Advertiser, The Photo News, The Chronicle in Orange County, NY; The Advertiser-News (North Edition), The Advertiser-News (South Edition), The Sparta Independent, The Township Journal, The West Milford Messenger in New Jersey and The Pike County Courier in Pennsylvania.

The newspapers have won numerous awards for news coverage and editorial and advertising excellence.

The newspapers are distributed to more than 150,000 homes each week

TIME LINE

2013
Purchase of Manhattan newspapers: Our Town, The West Side Spirit, Our Town Downtown, The Chelsea Clinton News, The Westsider

2011
Launch of dirt magazine

2005
Purchase of The Pike County Courier

2003
Launch of The West Milford Messenger

2001
Launch of The Chronicle

1999
Launch of The Township Journal

1995
Merger of The Vernon News and The Advertiser to create The Advertiser News (North Edition) and the Advertiser-News (South Edition)

1998
Purchase of The Sparta Independent

1986
Sale of WMCA; purchase of The Warwick Advertiser, The Photo News, The Advertiser and The Vernon News

1963
Ellen Straus founds Call For Action

1958
WMCA Good Guys is rated #1 radio station in New York

1945
Nathan Straus purchases WMCA radio station

1866
The Warwick Advertiser (acquired by Straus News in 1986) is launched